Seattle Seahawks: Big changes ahead in a 3-phase plan for the 2022 offseason

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Feb 5, 2022
Seattle Seahawks
Pete Carroll and John Schneider.

After a 7-10 season, the Seattle Seahawks need to make changes. Here’s a plan to turn the team around in the offseason.

The 2022 NFL offseason begins in a couple of weeks. So I thought I’d bring the loyal PNWS readers my ideal Seattle Seahawks plan. The plan consists of three phases. Part 1 addresses four major areas, in-house free agents, restricted free agents, and potential cap casualties. Next is Phase 2, which addresses league-wide free agency and the draft. Finally, Phase 3 deals with post-June 1 transactions to finalize the roster.

Phase 1

Before dealing with the internal free agents, a franchise stalwart needs to be taken care of.

Before any other business, a valuable member of the franchise needs attention. Bobby Wagner gets an extension. The Seattle Seahawks add 3-years, $36M with a $12M signing bonus, and a void year for the last season of the contract.

This move allows him to remain a lifetime Seahawk which he’s earned. Restructuring Wagner’s contract also lowers his cap hit this season from $20.35M down to a manageable $12M, resulting in an $8.35M savings.

Let’s start with some cap casualties. These are players the Seahawks shouldn’t retain; cutting them will open more cap space to be used later on. Players on the chopping block are Kerry Hyder, Jason Meyers, Chris Carson, and Nick Bellore. These cuts save the team another $11.7M against the cap. If a trade for LJ Collier and/ or Gabe Jackson isn’t available, they get cut as well.

Re-signings

We move on to the resigning portion of our show now. Up first up is Quandre Diggs. The All-Pro safety resigns in Seattle for four years and $44M with a $10M signing bonus and a cap hit of $10.75M. Next, Rashaad Penny gets a two-year prove-it deal for $12M and a $4M signing bonus for a $6M cap hit.

Sidney Jones did well in his brief Seahawks stint and earned a new contract. He re-ups for two years. $6M with a $2M signing bonus. Last but not least is Al Woods, who gets a three-year, $9M deal with a void year. These moves eat up 23.5M in cap space.

The final move is a five-year, $105M extension for wide receiver DK Metcalf. This move should make DK very happy and show Russell Wilson that the Seattle Seahawks are committed to winning, which should make him happy as well. His new cap hit is $21M though, which is a $16.7M raise against the cap. With these moves, the Seahawks, who started this with roughly $50M in cap space (per OvertheCap.com), and still have around $28M to spend on other teams’ free agents as well as the 2022 draft picks.

Debrief

Now I know some of you will want to debate these moves and say I am crazy. That’s ok with me. Some will not agree with these moves, such as keeping Wagner or letting DJ Reed and Rasheem Green go. A few of you will say we need to bring back Duane Brown because of the uncertainty about who the Seahawks will replace him with.

Some 12s might not like the numbers I threw out to retain certain players. And let’s be honest, it is impossible to know what it will take to bring anyone back or to bring anyone in. This is just part one of the offseason plan; next up will be NFL free agents.

Next: Page 2 – In and out

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